Whistling in the Dark

Which is what the rest of the country does because they don't have lighthouses to brighten their darkest nights, but here we have a lighthouse every twenty-five miles or so, which is probably why people living on the South Coast feel so sorry for the other forty-nine states and all of their various parts.

And it is also why we have Lighthouse art shows, specifically, Lighthouses 2.0, brought to you by, (nudge, wink) Whistling Gallery, Bandon.

You never heard of Whistling Gallery and you don't want to get out in the rain on the dark and dangerous streets and you may not come out until the groundhog gives the all clear! By then the awards will be given out and you won't be getting one while the folks who braved the rain, (This wet stuff we get here isn't really rain, sort of heavy sweat from passing sea gulls. Back in my youth in Texas we only got rain once every coupla years, you'd rush the kids away from the video games so that they could say they saw it in their lifetime, but when it did rain, head for high ground, the skies open and the floods come and anyone caught out in it can drown just by looking up.), will have another line on their resume if you are a formal sort of creative guy or artists statement if you are of the less rigid school of taking credit where credit is deserved. (We'll deal with resume/artists statements another day.)

So for those of you who do want to get out in the rain and find Whistling Gallery so that you can enter your latest masterpiece and win fame, fortune and undying envy will want to travel down past Bandon toward Langlois...you don't know where Langlois is? Okay, let's make this simple, it is just before you get to the giant purple yurt at Art 101, where Angela Haseltine Pozzi's gallery is, you know the genius who makes art from beach trash while the rest of us just stand around whining about the sad state of the beaches. And for those with a sweet tooth it isn't at all far from Misty Meadows, so if you want to pick up some jam for the guys you didn't realize you knew and who stopped by for the holiday and you had nothing to give them and now you are feeling very guilty, you can do two things with one trip.

But first go to the Whistling Gallery site or S.L. Donaldson's site or look it up in back postings on the Trawler or have a look at the Regional Arts & Culture Council site and download all the forms so that you can do it right and not get tossed out in the cold and the rain when you show up with half filled forms.

You just can't beat the price, $20 for up to three entries! You don't do lighthouses, they're common, ordinary and more decorative art, you are a fine artist. Okay, don't do it and I’m sorry to have wasted your time, but for the rest, get busy. There's even enough time to create something for just this show. The deadline for entry is January the thirty-oneth, so you can get out and paint/draw/carve/pot/sculpt and collage, just be quick about it. And like I know you have, all of the followers of this blog are ready right now, so stop wasting time and get those pages downloaded.

We live within easy travel of three lighthouses, our own, Bandon's boutique light and the Umpqua River light, how can you have missed making one of these your own. And because the rules for this show were created by real artists they state: Artists are encouraged to go beyond the traditional lighthouse image and offer an exploration of lighthouses from a unique physical or symbolic perspective. How can you pass on that?

Me? I've got my paperwork filled out and my CD made and I'm just waiting until I can return enough bottles to collect the entry fee and then you better watch out, you better not cry...